Becoming The Shadows (Shadow Series #4)

28 - Gone

The bestiary lays open flat on the kitchen counter of my dad's apartment. My pointer finger and thumb turn the page and I lazily reach for my coffee next to it. I take a small sip as I read down the page, thankful that my parents had me learn Archaic Latin at a young age. 

At the sound of a knife being thrown in the air, my right hand flies up to latch my fingers around the handle of the knife before it can stab me. Dad walks out of the hallway when sees that it's me in his kitchen and not a stranger that broke in. 

"You could have called if you were coming over." Dad announces and walks further into the kitchen. He walks up to the kitchen island that I've been leaning up against for the past hour. 

I place the knife on the counter by the book. "Sorry." I apologize and flick my eyes over to the other side of the page. 

Dad raises an eyebrow at the bestiary between us. "What are you doing?"

I heave a sigh and turn the page again. "Trying to figure out what I am." I rest my cheek in the palm of my hand. "So far, I haven't found anything."

Dad reaches across the counter for the book, flipping through a couple pages, like he is searching for something. "Well, you know you're a shapeshifter." 

I nod my head. "Yeah, but I don't know what kind." I pick up my coffee and pour more into the cup from the coffee pot. With one hand, I open the fridge and then reach for the creamer. "Most were-animals can shape shift, but there lies the problems." I pour a decent amount of creamer in my coffee before adding more sugar. "They transform into animals. not humans."

Dad continues to flip through the book. "I've never heard of anything of your kind before." 

"And you've seen a lot of supernatural creatures." I groan and contemplate banging my head into the kitchen counter. I grab the bestiary back, sliding it across the counter top. I hide my head between both of my arms as I stare down at my feet. 

"What's else is going on?" Dad questions and I can feel his intense glare on my skin. I tense up, realizing he knows how to read body language as well as me. "Clara?"

I exhale out of my mouth and lift my head up with my forearms resting on top of the book. I open my mouth to tell him, yet I find myself closing it seconds later. My right hand pushes my hair back out of my face. "The deadpool is over. I-I think I'm going to go back to France." 

Dad's face turns into stone to keep me from reading his facial expressions. "For how long?" 

"Just a month or two." I shake my head and straighten up. "I have some friends over there that might be able to help me figure out what I am and, after the Derek thing, I just need to find who I am again. France helped me do that last time." 

"Who knows?"

I bite down on my bottom lip. "Just you now." I lower my eyes to my coffee that is probably turning cold. "I haven't told anyone else yet. There hasn't been a good time to do so."

Dad waves a hand towards me. "You can't go like that, can you?" He refers to my normal appearance. 

"About that..." I scratch the back of my neck. A nervous habit that I've picked up from being friends with Stiles for  so long. I drum my fingers on the counter. "Would it be possible to say I faked my death because my sister's death hurt me so much? You know, like I needed time to myself, so I went through a rough patch and faked my death?" 

"That would take a lot of strings to pull." A contorted expression takes place on his face. He gives me a look. Dad pats the counter with a sigh. "I'll see what I can do."